Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Away from our daily occupation, he would have us to be alone with him. The love of the world must be weakened, the cords which knit our heartstrings together must be snapped asunder. There are inner depths in our soul of which we are at times painfully conscious where only one voice can be heard. God sometimes permits anxiety, fear, and anguish that we may be driven to him. He would have us know him as father and friend, not just know about him, but know him. It is this for which we are training.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the second and final part of this peace-filling message titled How to Wait on the Lord. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us: be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Join Pastor Shane as he teaches how God's sovereignty is our sanity, because when we let him take the wheel of our life, he is faithful to be with us through any struggle. From anxiety and depression to hopelessness, all thoughts and emotions can be calmed when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus. Take a listen. You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at westsidechristianfellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. My own understanding flows from my wants and my desires and from what I think is best and how I see things playing out. That's why it says don't lean on your because I'm going to say, okay, I see this playing out this way, so here's what I'm going to do. I don't want this in my body, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to lean on my own. This is how you fix it. I know how to fix it, this is how you fix it. I'm leaning on my own wisdom and own desires.

So you get advice from people. Thank God for godly counsel. I mean, the context of seeking godly counsel in the Bible is before you go to war and the multitude of counsel there is safety. It's good to have that counsel, but ultimately when God is dealing with you, he's not dealing with the other person, so the other person doesn't know how God is dealing with you, so their understanding is limited. I do all that every time I counsel. I just had a counseling appointment this morning over the phone and I said, I don't know the mind of God on this. I don't know what God's doing in your heart and the life of your husband. I don't know, but here's what I would suggest.

Here's what the Bible says. Then you allow them to seek the Lord, trust in the Lord, and see how he will guide them. So waiting on God may go against human advice. Perfect example: I do not want to go see my doctor right now because he's not going to be happy with me. Correct? Two months ago he said I need to go have all my lymph nodes removed and surgery in my mouth and all kinds of stuff. I don't want to go see him. But see, that's not being naive, that's not being fearful. It just means he doesn't know what God is doing in me. Number one, he's not a believer. Number two, I'm trusting in the Lord and if that time ever comes, God will show me. God is well able to speak loudly and clearly when he's ready and wants to.

So it's hard because you want to trust that I have to do what others are saying. And you may do that. Please don't misunderstand. We need godly counsel. Thank God for godly physicians. Thank God for godly nurses. We need that, but ultimately, what is God doing? We need to trust him and seek him and he will direct our steps because our understanding is limited. Big time. David, you know King David, he went against the conventional route of using armor. Esther did what was right despite the protocol. The protocol was you don't go to the king, he could kill you. Peter listened and stepped out of the safety of the boat. Noah continued forward despite mocking and uncertainty. Abraham trusted God and set out to a land that God would eventually show him.

Now imagine this one. God says, I'm called to move. Honey, let's load up the U-Haul. Where are we going? I have no clue. And I've known people over the years who have done that. They've trusted God. Eventually God showed them by the time it closed escrow. Right? But that's unabandoned faith. There was a man in the ministry years ago, I don't know if he's still solid, I don't remember at all and he caught some flak for it, and I kind of respected him for it. His name was KP Yohannan and he had a missionary organization. He said he just felt that he gave up his insurance, his retirement, and he was just trusting God. People said, "Oh, I can't believe that, that's crazy." I thought that's kind of cool actually, if you think about it. I don't know if it's wise, I don't know if I would do that, but hey, how can you go wrong saying Lord, I'm giving this to you, I'm going to trust you.

I'm just going to trust you. Now again, if you're being naive and you haven't really prayed about it and you're not leaving anything inheritance for the kids or your spouse if you were to pass away, I don't know if that's wise. I got it. I've thought it all through. But just the fact that he did that, like that takes a lot of guts. That's trusting the Lord. Side note number three: God helps you think clearly when you wait. I love this verse. I've been meditating a lot this week. Delight yourself in the Lord. Now this word delight means be soft and pliable, find exquisite pleasure in serving him. Isn't that a cool definition? Be soft, be pliable, be teachable, find pleasure in serving God and he will give you the desires of your heart.

What? Well, I want a Corvette. Actually, I don't. But you know what I'm saying. But you've experienced this before. Don't your desires change the more you seek God? Now you just want this and your worldly desires change. The word interesting in the Hebrew, remember Old Testament is Hebrew, desire is mish'alot. You don't mish'alot. Remember it this way. Desire is mish'alot. When you delight yourself in God, your requests will naturally align with his will. Your prayers actually become his desire for your life. That's how you get answered prayers. That's why many people experience incredible answered prayers.

I've lived this. My wife said this before and I've shared it before and I'm not, trust me, I have plenty of flaws, I make mistakes, I move too quickly. But back when we were married, she's like, everything you do seems to work out with the book or the church or the business. And I said listen, number one, I don't move quickly. Number two, these are God's desires. The reason the church worked, he did it. The reason I write books, he puts it. The last two became bestsellers. My mom predicted that years ago. Why? Because God does it. He brings me through the dark night of the soul, I write about it, he gets the word out there.

The business, it wasn't my idea to start a construction company and buy a John Deere backhoe and a semi-truck and then it just exploded right when construction took off. These aren't oh man, look what Shane came up with. I delight myself in the Lord, like many of you, here come these thoughts, you step out into it and there's answered prayer. You're just lining yourself up with God's will, that's all you're doing. That's what answered prayer is. You think it's you. Oh, I had a great thought. Are you sure?

Remember the radio station I've told you guys about before? I'm driving home, it's right there on Bouquet Canyon, and they said they're going to sell the station, we're going to be off of it. I'm just driving and it's like this thought: why don't you buy it? What was that? Why would I do? Can't buy a radio station, I don't know anything. But delight in then right with these thoughts, these desires, this prayer. God begins, and the same with all of you, when you delight yourself in God, your requests, what you're praying for naturally flows from his will. You're praying for the prodigal sons and daughters. Is that his will? Of course. Your next ministry opportunity, your calling.

Now if you're praying like, oh Lord, I saw that new Bentley and I like that big old house up by the water tank in Quartz Hill, where it says Quartz Hill water tanks. I helped put one of those up there when I was with Quartz Hill water district. And they have that, what's that pool that just drops off? Yeah, so we're working up there and I'm like oh, that looks, look at that, 6,000 square foot, the pool drops off, 400, 500,000 just in the backyard. Oh Lord. Never happened. Never gonna happen. Guess what? I don't desire it. New levels, more devils. I don't need more devils. Plus I think pastors should live at, you know, you got to make just, you just live average. You don't need all this extravagant stuff, I don't understand.

But those desires come from seeking the Lord. And so as you pray, you're actually praying the will of God, no wonder it happens. You're praying the will of God and that's how prayers get answered. Side note number four: commit your ways to the Lord and he will eventually act. He will eventually act. Psalm 40, verse 1: I waited patiently for the Lord and he inclined to me and he heard my cry. So everything you've been waiting for is the next slide. This is where I've been trying to get to, but it took a while. Okay, here's how you wait upon the Lord. You guys ready for this? Take pictures or look good job on this by the way, he can get this to you.

Begin by repenting and obeying. How you wait is you prepare your heart. You prepare to wait. So you repent, Lord, I haven't been waiting on you, I've been too busy, I haven't been hearing you, I may be in a relationship I shouldn't be, I went back to a sin I shouldn't be involved in. I'm repenting and I want to obey you and now I'm ready to wait. Now you're ready to wait. And there's verses you can look up, 1 Samuel 7:3 was really good as well. And then from there, prioritize seeking the Lord. So now you prioritize it. How do you get God on your calendar? So if you're a morning person or an evening person, I don't care, put him in your calendar right now. Put him in your calendar right now.

I'll wait. But isn't that true? He's the priority come tomorrow morning, he is my priority. I'm going to get to bed early and seek him. Or if you're a night person. I don't know how you night people do it, because by 8:00 I'm like. Actually if I start to read the Bible, I just fall asleep. I fall asleep if I read the Bible at night. In the morning I'm good, but at night just woo. It's because my DNA's different. I was born into a construction family, my dad would get me up at 4:00 AM, Tom you know, you remember those days, and it's still ingrained. And I'm appreciative of that. I love seeking the Lord while it's dark out. Open the garage door and you can just hear nothing, just blackness of the night sky, and just worshipping and waiting upon him.

But you have to prioritize it. That means something has to give. My lifestyle has to be conducive with seeking God. Doesn't mean you have to do that every single day. There's busy nights, there's 4th of July up till God knows when. I hear firecrackers till 12:00, even in Texas, even with earplugs in and no dogs. I thought I'd be able to sleep. And so that morning was tough, so that's my point. Okay? So prioritize seeking the Lord through waiting. Number three, worship while you wait. Remember that song from Fireproof? Some of you need to watch Fireproof again with Kirk Cameron and restoring his marriage.

But there was that song, "I'm going to worship while I wait." As you're waiting, you're worshipping because it pushes out becoming disgruntled. It pushes out fear, it pushes out anxiety. You worship while you wait and it begins to make your heart tender to the things of God. Incorporate times of stillness. Be still and know that I am God. That means cease striving. So there has to be points throughout your week, if you can do it daily that'd be great, but you've got to be still. Just wait, be still. Turn the darn phone off or put it in airplane mode and have some download some music. But there's got to be where you're just still, be still. Cease striving. Cease trying to figure it out. Be still.

Watch how hard it is. Have you ever tried coming to an hour prayer meeting? That's why most people don't come. It's hard. Why can we watch YouTube for 14 hours, but 14 minutes in prayer? And trust me, it will get easier, because your flesh says oh well here we go again, I'm not going to fight it anymore, and you look forward to that stillness, that time of just praying to the Lord. What about fasting and praying for the next step? As you're waiting on God, fast and pray. You can't wait on the Lord and be disgruntled, Negative Nelly, Critical Kathy. Let me think of some other ones. Negative. Well you guys get it, right?

But waiting upon the Lord and your attitude, I mean that is key. Doesn't that tilt the scale? Because if I'm not thankful, it's hard to wait on the Lord. Philippians 4, "Finally brethren, whatever things are pure and noble," that whole chapter there on being thankful. And as you're waiting God says that's a cheerful person, he's thankful, she's thankful as they're waiting upon me. And you love waiting upon him. You're not disgruntled like, "Lord, hurry up." Because here's what happens, God's not in a hurry. You'll be doing that until you're 95. God's like, I got all the time. Have you ever noticed that with God? He doesn't play games. He doesn't say, "Okay, okay Shane you got me, it's been a year, what do you need?"

I'm waiting on him, but he's waiting on me. Waiting time. And then of course repeat often. If all seven of these are biblical steps from the book of Psalms and other parts of the Bible about waiting upon the Lord: getting our heart right, prioritizing, worship, incorporating times of stillness, and putting time aside for him and fasting. Why would Jesus go out by himself, but we don't have to? Now I know God's got a lot of empathy of course for the single mom or the mom with newborns and the kids, and it is challenging. And the guy trying to hold down two jobs and pay all the bills, but God will see you through.

And side note number five I need to share with you as we close it. Side note number five: this is a tough one, trust me. Trust may involve an outcome that we do not desire. Waiting on God, trusting him. Remember they're married. You must be prepared for an outcome that maybe you did not desire. Do not let it sink your ship. Do not let it sink your ship, folks. I mean many people have been going years, I'm only like I mentioned before for five months, I'm trusting in God and if it's not an outcome I desire, I'm living this every single day as are many of you. But true trust, true intimacy, true waiting upon the Lord says, "Lord, not my will but your will. You know best, I don't know, obviously there's a purpose. You're a good God, a good father, and I trust in you."

And you have to be able to be prepared because it doesn't sometimes the outcome is not what we had hoped for. And I'll close with this excerpt from a book I'm reading right now. It's from 1879. And actually the title is "Able to Save, Encouragements to Patient Waiting." It's encouragement to those who patiently wait. Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Yes, assuredly because it is proof that he cares for us. We are not left to wander on without a father's care but when our steps are fast nearing dangerous ground, his hand of love is outstretched. When we are like to stumble on the dark mountains, he points us to the path of safety. When the siren voice of alluring is pulling us further and further away, he summons us back.

A siren was, you know it's old Greek mythology, of the siren would lure sailors out into dangerous waters. And God does not do that. By the way, if you want to know what that looks like, it's the logo for Starbucks. Just saying. It is actually, but I don't know why they chose. Let me get back on track here you guys. So but God pulls us back and himself becomes our guide. He will not commune with us in the midst of our heedlessness and our folly. He must first draw us aside. He must draw us away from the scenes in which we foolishly delight, away from companions who are making us as worldly as themselves, away from our daily occupation. He would have us to be alone with him.

The love of the world must be weakened, the cords which knit our heartstrings together must be snapped asunder. There are inner depths in our soul of which we are at times painfully conscious where only one voice can be heard. God sometimes permits anxiety, fear, and anguish that we may be driven to him. He would have us know him as father and friend, not just know about him, but know him. It is this for which we are training. And waiting upon the Lord, it's a lifelong pursuit. Is it not? Waiting upon the Lord is a lifelong pursuit.

So the team's going to come back up, we're just going to close with a few songs of worship. Again, maybe this would be a good time for some of you to come forward and just get that alignment back with God again saying, "Lord I need you, I want you." Some of those songs we did, "Here I am to worship," I haven't heard that in a long time. "Here I am to bow down, here I am to worship." Remember those songs? For some of you, remember that fire, remember that passion? Where did it go? Where did it go? God doesn't leave us, we leave God. And if you truly want that desire and that fire and that passion back you've got to pursue him. You've got to focus on him. You said, "Lord, here I am I lay down my will, I lay down my fears and my anxieties, I lay down my sin. Oh God, I want to wait on you again, I want the renewed, I want to be renewed again, I want that fresh fire of the spirit to blow inside of me again and God give me that passion desire." And the more you seek him, the more you find him, and the more you find him, the more you love him.

Hello, this is Pastor Shane Idleman. Hey, I want to let our listeners know that due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the radio stations that we currently air on. Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me and Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble today, as well as other social media platforms. Again, due to budgeting issues, we will be removing Regaining Lost Ground from some of the stations that we currently air our program on.

Therefore, to continue listening to the sermons, I want to encourage you to follow me as well as Westside Christian Fellowship on YouTube and Rumble and also follow us on all other social media platforms as well. If you have questions, please reach out to us at westsidechristianfellowship.org. Again, that's westsidechristianfellowship.org. Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily: times change, truth does not.